Tips On Home Search Program

Things to be aware before Home Search

I Property Type and ownership

II Ownership of property:

Things To Be Aware During Property Visiting

Washer and Dryer - In China, it is quite common that the washing machine doesn’t connect to hot water and will only wash the clothes with cold water. More expensive machines will use electricity to heat the water within the machine during the cycle. Clothes dryers are also not popular as Chinese usually will hang the wet clothes out to dry. If such conveniences are absolutely necessary to you, please make this very clear to your property consultant before you start viewing any properties and ensure that it is stated in clearly in the offer letter to the landlord and in the contract before you sign it.

Air conditioning - The weather in Shanghai is fairly hot in Summer while cold in winter. There are several kinds of air conditioning and heating system. First, both hot and cold are run in the same pipes during different season. Generally the management office will change the system at the appropriate time, ie you may only receive cold air in summer and hot air in winter, but if in summer you feel it’s too cold you can’t dial up the air temperature and receive hot air piped in. There are exceptions in very expensive buildings that may run multi-pipe systems. You should pay attention to and make it clear when your heating will be turned on in your building and who is paying for it. Heating may in some cases be turned on and off centrally in the whole building and the price included in the monthly rent. In some cases there are both the heating radiators and air-conditioning units in each room. When you check the property you should ensure that there is an air-conditioning unit in each room and that the cooling is working properly and adequate to cool down that size of room in hot weather. Remember it will be much harder for the aircon to cool the room in hot weather so if you test it in the cool weather it better be VERY cold.

Dish Washers - Very few Chinese people use dishwashers at home or leave any space in the kitchen for installing them. This may be due to the popularity of using a house keeper to wash the dishes as the cost in China is very low. Some landlords may have installed UV sterilizers or the likes in the kitchen which look very similar to dishwashers. Don’t be fooled by this! If you really need a dishwasher please ensure that the item you are looking at is the real deal.

Water Filters - Never drink water from the taps unless you are informed by the relevant health authorities that the water is safe for drinking. Generally speaking, the water quality in China is not very high. In some areas publicly treated water that reaches your home is not of a very high quality at all due to the technology in the treatment plants or the old piping in the delivery lines. This may be especially true in the suburbs of the city. It is therefore suggested that when choosing your property, especially in the villa compounds, that you ask for a water filtration system. Also, for drinking water you had better stick to bottled water from a very reliable company (check with your neighbours and friends on what they’re using). Water in 19 liter bottles may usually be available for delivery to your home at a very reasonable price. Again check the reputation of the water bottling company and packaging of EACH bottle very very carefully, as many cases of “fake” water have occurred in China.

Bed Mattresses - In China people believe that a very firm mattress is good for health. Please ensure that your JRE consultant is made aware of the type of mattress you and your family will be comfortable to sleep on so that we may try to negotiate this for you. Also you may like to inspect the item personally before it is ordered, as the term “soft” is relative and mattress comfort is quite an individual item.

Screens - If you do your house hunting during the cooler seasons you may forget to consider the mosquito issue. As those little peskies may keep you up a whole night when the warmer weather hits and they start on
their dreaded blood sucking quest, this is definitely an item not to sleep on. So make sure you will request to install fly screens if your selected property is on lower floor or a garden villa.

“Black-out” Curtains Make sure all curtains in the bedrooms are fitted with black-out curtains to ensure that your rooms are completely dark in order to have a sound sleep.

Voltage The standard voltage in China is 240V and 50Hz. If you are going to bring any electrical appliances make sure that the label specifies it’s ok to operate up to 220V. If the appliance must be run on 110 ~ 120V ensure you are using a step-down transformer that will convert the house current in you China home to 110V that you may then safely plug your appliance into, otherwise you will fry it and may start a nasty house fire! Additionally be aware the electronic appliances with any sort of timer in them may not work properly in China if they can’t accept the frequency differences. In countries that use 110V the frequency is usually 60Hz. But in China it’s 50Hz. If you use a step down transformer in China and convert the voltage to 110V it will STILL be 50Hz. Therefore, a clock will run at a different speed in China on 110V and 50Hz than it will in the USA on 110V and 60Hz.

Internet Access If you require internet speeds above 1M make sure you let your JRE consultant know before you start viewing properties and that it’s clearly written into the offer letter and housing contract before you sign. Additionally most homes will only be provided with one internet jack in only one room for the whole house. So, if you need more access points you may either use a wireless system or you will need new wiring to be put in both of which will cost extra. You should also ensure your consultant is aware of your requirements and that the paper work reflects this.

International TV Channels - Developer owned properties usually have international TV channels including HBO, CNN and so one, usually up to a maximum of about15 English Channels only. Properties owned by individual landlords often don’t even have that many, and may not have any English programs. To deal with this problem, many tenants are requesting the installation of a “private” satellite dish outside their window. Be aware that there are original versions which cost more, at least around RMB 5,000 for the equipment and RMB 2,000 per year to run it, and “pirated versions” which are cheaper costing only around RMB 1800 for the equipment and basically no additional fees. However the pirated version will require constant reprogramming of the card in the satellite reception box (quite a hassle and you may have to pay for new cards all the time) and the final quality at your tv may be lower. So, if your budget is flexible enough to allow the inclusion of an “original version” we do recommend this highly over the “pirated” version.

Double-glazed Windows - If you would like to choose an apartment that is close to a main road or public area, make sure the windrows facing the road are installed with double-glazed protection to reduce the noise entering your home.

Property Facing - Since the winter in Shanghai is very cold in the absence of good heating, people tend to choose south-facing properties in order to get in more sunlight.. We do suggest that you visit the property during the day time so that you can more easily judge whether the property is bright enough or not.

Basement - Basements provide you with excellent additional storage space, another place for children to play, or even a good location for your home gym. However, basements may create a lot of problems if they have not been properly built. Water leakage problems, and mould growth especially during the humid Summer season may plague certain properties. Therefore when choosing properties with a basement it is worthy to consider those properties that have a good track record already with their previous tenants. If you insist on an unproven site, you may at minimum carefully inspect the property after a heavy rainfall for any signs of trouble if possible and also any signs of past leakage.

Beddings and Kitchen Utensils/Appliances Usually most of the properties owned by individual landlords do not provide bedding and Kitchen Utensils, such as pots, pans, forks, Chinaware knives and so on. You may either bring them from your home country, purchase them in China at your own cost (really quite cheap, after all we are in CHINA), or try to see if your landlord may include their purchase into the rental cost.

Things need to know during the Property Visiting

I. What’s include into the rental:

II. What factors will influence the rental;

III. What factors may be useful to negotiate a good price:

● How many people will live in this property - Often you may achieve better pricing if the number of occupants is fewer
● How soon you can start the Lease - starting sooner is favourable to most landlords
● How many additional requirements you ask towards the property – less requirements equals less money the landlord needs to spend and more savings that can be passed on to you
● How long is your lease term - usually a longer lease term is favourable by the land lord but you may not like to “lock” yourself into a really long term if you think you may consider to move later if not happy or if you feel the price may drop in that compound next year
● If you want to remove all the existing furniture out and put your own furniture in, it will not help too much in terms of negotiating the rental. If however it is a NEW and never been furnished property this may help.

Noise: If you are a sensitive towards noise you may wish to consider avoiding the following:
●Brand new property - Since every individual landlord in the building will have their own time schedule to decorate their property you may be constantly subjected to hammer drills and
renovation noises. Definitely annoying!!
●Property with large open empty lots nearby - NO ONE can say for sure what will happen in those lots but most likely is NEW CONSTRUCTION!! Think HUGE hammer drills now, lots of
dust and crap in the air, and big noisy diesel engines running around all the time. Definitely
stuff nightmares are made of!!
●Property facing the road -Since most windows in Chinese housing are not very efficient at
blocking out the noise, try to avoid properties that are facing the road no matter if it is a main road or small road.

Poisonous Smell: Quite a lot of individual landlords will use low quality paint or glue to decorate their properties, and many expats do not realize this until they move in and start to feel uncomfortable. So if you choose a newly decorated property, check with your consultant to see what brand of paint the landlord used to decorate this property or you may wish for an environmental assessment if you have young kids or feel very concerned on this issue.

Tips on Lease Negotiation
Before you sign any Lease Agreement, make sure you consider carefully ALL of your requirements fully and ask your property consultant to negotiate them with the landlord. All the agreed requirements must be clearly written in the lease contract to legally protect both the tenant and landlord in case of dispute. We strongly advise that you never rely on any verbal agreements made with the landlord as they will be difficult to prove in court in case of a dispute .

I Replace furniture & buy new furniture if the property you choose is unfurnished or you would like to ask the landlord to change some of the existing furniture you should consider the following points. If you don’t pay attentions to these items many arguments may arise during the purchasing of the furniture or you may have troubles getting your deposit back.
●Make sure that the contract clearly lists all the items you want to buy.
●Make sure that you negotiate enough “furniture budget” and put the budget into the contract. Usually for an unfurnished property an amount equal to 2 1/2 ~ 3 months rental price should be sufficient to buy all the furniture, electrical appliances and curtains.
●Never buy any furniture without the landlord’s permission. It is better to let the landlord go with you to buy all the furniture, and let the landlord pay for it since the furniture will ultimately belong to the landlord.
● If the landlord doesn’t have time and gives all the money to you to buy the furniture, try to
finish all the purchasing within one month and keep all the receipts.
●Be timely to ask both the agent and landlord to fill in the final furniture check list and make sure both you and your landlord sign the final furniture list.

II Lease Term - Usually the standard leasing term for a typical contract is one year, but you may wish to consider the following during your negotiations:
●If the property compound which you choose is very hot and popular in Shanghai (usually your agent will tell you), and your assignment in China is longer than one year, then we suggest that you negotiate a two year lease term with break clause in order to prevent the rental from increasing in the 2nd year.
●If your assignment in China is one year or less, then we suggest you to sign a one year lease with break clause in order to prevent early termination and unnecessary deposit loss. However, sometimes this short team lease may be unfavourable by the landlord who will
then ask for a higher or less negotiable price, or it may become more difficult to negotiate.

III Damage & Compensation - You are not suggested to drill holes in the walls to hang up any pictures or fix mirrors unless you have the landlord’s written permission. It would be best to ask the landlord to have their people or the workers from the management office to come over and do such things. Also, please do not redecorate the house or change the wall color without the landlord’s prior permission. Otherwise the landlord may ask for damage compensation by deducting money from your deposit which they will then not return at the end of the lease term.

IV Rental: Terms of rental usually include the property management fee, governmental heating fees and taxes and certain other items. However the following fees could also be negotiated into the rental price depending your company’s housing policy and if it allows such items to be included in the rental. Such items may be; Internet Installation and Monthly Usage Fee, Utilities Fee (usually there is limit), Garden Maintenance Fee (only applicable to villas), Satellite TV Fee (please reference the above Satellite TV part), Parking Fees and others.

V Club Membership A club membership and usage of the facilities at your compounds club house is not “automatically” an integrated part of the rental and usually needs to be negotiated with the landlord. Normally, a family membership card of any club house only admits two adults and one child under 14 year of age. If you have additional family members that you would like to bring there will be extra costs associated which must be negotiated with landlord into the lease before it is signed. Be aware that some of the facilities in some clubs, such as tennis or swimming pool are provided to members requesting an extra usage fee that usually should be born by the tenant themselves. Make sure you clarify this pont with your consultant.

VI Pest Control. Pest control is requested by a number of expats even though it is not a standard practice in China. It is available upon request and the service fee should be negotiated before the leasing contract is signed.

VII Pets - Quite a number of compounds, especially apartment buildings, don’t allow tenants to bring any pets, especially dogs and cats. Please confirm with your agent or landlord before you consider any compound and also check the local regulations. Dogs kept legally in China need a registration which is rather expensive and dogs more than 30cm tall at the shoulder will not be given registration if the address is within the city. 

VIII Back-up Plan Once you find a satisfactory home, and you should take your time to find some place that REALLY suits you, a quick decision on that home and signature on the contract will help you to secure it. The Shanghai market is quite active and you may keep the phrase in mind “snooze you lose”. We also recommend that during your home search, you should prepare at least 2-3 back up properties in case your 1st choice doesn’t work out.

Things Not to Attempt During Home Search

Ⅱ Do not sign a lease for any property when it is just an empty shell (during the construction phase). The final result may be far from your imagination!! Always try to choose the property which is ready for occupancy or which decoration is nearly finished.

Ⅲ Do not rent the property in a brand new compound where all the neighbouring apartments or houses are being decorated.

Ⅳ Do not provide the landlord/potential landlord or landlord’s representative with your name card or contact information till you move into the property, otherwise you may be contacted by many strangers for different sales promotions as your contact might be passed around the very quickly.

Ⅴ If this is your first overseas assignment you may consider to avoid compounds where the majority of residents are local Chinese, even if you feel you are looking for a “cultural experience”. You really have NO idea what you’re in for!!! Also communication problems, neighbours habits and lack of English speaking services might make you and your family’s life there very difficult.